The present invention relates to video games, and more particularly to games wherein an input device such as an exercise bike, or other piece of exercise equipment, is interfaced for providing directional control of a movable game element, as well as for controlling other variable game elements.
In a typical video game, a raster scan display is controlled in response to user input, such as from a joystick or other control input device that is operatively connected to a personal computer or to a video game system. Some personal computers use a conventional TV set. The video game itself is usually defined in a computer program that can be selected from a menu or from a set of program memory modules; the program defining for each video game an input domain whereby particular control inputs are translated into corresponding video game responses.
Popular video games are produced in a variety of configurations, the different positions on an ordinary joystick serving different functions for different games. In some video games, the user has the sensation of moving toward the display (into the screen), his perceived movements relative to a displayed reference being controlled by the joystick to obtain a desired result. For example, in the Mach Rider game by Nintendo, a motorcycle is navigated on a simulated track with the object of destroying enemy agents without being disabled by the agents or other road hazards. LEFT and RIGHT joystick buttons produce corresponding movements of the motorcycle relative to the track. Operation of an A button produces acceleration, while operation of a B button produces simulated machinegun fire. UP and DOWN joystick buttons produce simulated gear shifts. In other video games, the user is perceived as moving in the plane of the display. For example, in Excitebike, another Nintendo game, a bike is navigated on a motorcross track as fast as possible, the bike effectively traveling from left to right on the track. To move the bike toward the left side of the track (toward the top of the screen), the player presses the UP button; to move to the right, the player presses the DOWN button. The A and B buttons control the speed of the bike. The bike can also be made to jump by pressing the LEFT button, and the front wheel can be made to dip following a jump by pressing the RIGHT button. In other video games, there are further variations in input domain configuration as well as the screen frame of reference. Still further variations are to be expected in future video games.
A disadvantage of many video games is that the responses to control inputs often do not correspond to the user's perceived frame of reference. For example, the user often prefers to have the LEFT joystick always result in left movement relative to the game reference, even if the displayed result is transformed, as in Excitebike wherein upward movement on the screen is initiated by the left movement of the joystick. This problem is accentuated when the user switches between games having different screen frames of reference relative to the input domain.
It is also known to obtain user control input to a video game from an exercise device such as an exercise bicycle. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,512,567 to Phillips, 4,542,897 to Melton et al., and 4,637,605 to Ritchie. When an exercise bicycle is used for control input to a video game, the bicycle provides an especially dominant input frame of reference that exacerbates the confusion of the user between the control input and screen frames of reference whenever they are not the same. However, the prior art applications of exercise devices to video games fail to provide a natural correlation between the physical movements for the various control input functions and the game frame of reference, particularly in view of the variety of game frames of reference that exist in popular video game systems. Further, the typical video game applications of exercise devices fail to stimulate the user to perform the work (exercise) by offering an appropriate and natural correlation between the physical work performed and the operation of the video game. For example, users expect to move forward when pedaling an exercise bike, to turn when they apply uneven pressure on the two handgrips, and slow or stop when they cease pedaling. The Ritchie patent fails to meet these expectations: It discloses the use of the pedals of an exercise bike merely to provide a disabling feature to the video game: When the user ceases to pedal at a threshold RPM, the game shuts off. This is contrary to the user's ingrained frame of reference, that would like to see some object on the screen move at a speed correlative to the pedal RPMs. The Ritchie invention is also contrary to the user's expectation that mind and body will work together. This disabling feature merely coerces the user to move forward, like a bullock under the carter's whip.
The control of a game element at a speed proportional to a rotating member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,594 to Bromley. However, neither Bromley nor Phillips considered that most video games on the market do not accept a proportional voltage input from their control inputs (joysticks) nor do they have an element that moves at a velocity proportional to an input voltage or repetitive pulse that would lend itself to a direct input from an RPM counter or potentiometer. Typical examples of games that do not use a proportional velocity are: Atari's Asteroids, in which firing the thrust motor accelerates the spaceship until it reaches a terminal velocity dictated by the computer program for Asteroids; and Nintendo's Mach Rider, in which the motorcycle travels in one of five discrete speed brackets, depending on gear selection. An examination of the joysticks used by the three major game manufacturers, Atari, Nintendo and Sega, reveals that none provide for proportional voltage signal from the controls: All operate based on discrete on/off electrical signals.
Thus there is a need for a video game control apparatus that provides realistic operation of selected video games with respect to an input frame of reference, the input frame of reference having a desired relation to a screen frame of reference of the selected video game for providing a natural correlation between user inputs and the game, and that is compatible with one or more existing video game systems.